Movable light arrangement

ABSTRACT

An improved headlight unit for a vacuum cleaner, other cleaning or scrubbing type device, tool or the like involving a simple yet effective construction whereby the proper degree of illumination required for a given job may be easily obtained by the user. Significantly, our attractive headlight unit may be selectively moved to a variety of operative positions, with the unit being automatically retained against further movement when in each such selected position.

United States Patent Selley et al.

1151 3,679,885 51 July 25, 1972 [54] MOVABLE LIGHT ARRANGEMENT [72] Inventors: Wilbur-Webb Selley, Maitland; Richard H.

Schatier, Orlando, both of Fla.

[73] Assignee: Vactronlcs, Inc., Orlando, Fla.

[22] Filed: Feb. 24, 1969 1211 Appl. No.1 801,608

[52] U.S. Cl ..240/2 VC, 240/61, 15/324,

16 145 51 1m. 01. ..F21v 33/00 [58] Field of Search ..240 2, 2 MT, 2 vc, 4, 41.6,

148 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 474,298 5/1892 Lowrey ..16/145 1,012,324 12/1911 Burrows ..16/142 2,221,746 11/1940 Kirby ..240/2 VC 2,639,719 5/1953 Smereck... ....248/291 X 3,444,582 5/1969 Erbor ..15/324 Primary Examiner-John M. Horan Assistant Examiner-Alan A. Mathews Attorney-Julian C. Renfro 57 ABSTRACT An improved headlight unit for a vacuum cleaner, other cleaning or scrubbing type device, tool or the like involving asimple yet effective construction whereby the proper degree of illumination required for a given job may be easily obtained by the user. Significantly, our attractive headlight unit may be selectively moved to a variety of operative positions, with the unit being automatically retained against further movement when in each such selected position.

5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PMENFEEJUW 1922 SHEET 1 [IF 2 WiLBUR-WEBB SELLEY QiCHARD H. SCHAFFER 8W5 MOVABLE LIGI-IT ARRANGEMENT CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION This invention is based closely upon subject matter set forth in the copending patent application of Wilbur-Webb Selley and Richard H. Schaffer entitled Improved Vacuum Cleaner and Power Unit," filed June 20, 1968, Ser. No. 738,595.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to illumination devices such as may be used in connection with vacuum cleaners and the like in order to provide an adjustable amount of illumination for the convenience of the user.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART In the prior art, a number of different types of illuminating means have been used, including some that could be tilted somewhat so as to provide greater illumination at certain times. However, in each known instance, the tiltable light did not have stability in each of a number of locations, but rather at most would remain stable only in a fully raised or else in a fully lowered position. Furthermore, the tiltable prior art designs were expensive to manufacture, prone to get out of order, and usually involved constructions that disfigured the upper surface of the device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A movable illumination means in accordance with this invention may comprise a headlight unit tiltable into any of a number of stable positions, which unit may have an upper surface generally conforming to the contour of the upper surface of the housing when the unit is in a lower position. Spring support means are disposed on the housing adjacent a rear portion of the unit, with a leaf spring being secured to the spring support means and forming a principal support for the headlight unit. A plurality of notches are disposed on the housing above the spring support means, with one of these notches at a time being arranged to receive a rear portion of said unit when said unit has been tilted against the influence of said spring to a raised position. Thus, the spring and notch combination hold the headlight unit stably in any of a number of selected raised positions.

It is therefore a principal object of our invention to provide a tiltable light arrangement that can be stably held in any of a number of raised positions.

It is another object of our invention to provide a spring supported headlight unit which at all times is biased into a position engaging one of a plurality of notches, with the user selectively able to change the position of the headlight unit to a new stable position merely by momentarily overcoming the spring and causing the rear edge of the unit to engage a different notch.

It is yet another object of our invention to provide a headlight unit constructed so as to be able to be attractively incorporated into the contour of the surface in which it is mounted.

These and other objects features and advantages will be more apparent from a study of the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view revealing the general appearance of a vacuum cleaner utilizing our novel headlight unit;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing certain internal construction details of the tiltable light, with the light being in the fully lowered position;

FIG. 3 is a view like FIG. 2 but showing the headlight unit in a partially tilted position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view showing the light unit in a fully raised position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the housing, revealing the spring mounting means and the notches;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the relationship of the raised headlight to the suction noule of the vacuum cleaner; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view revealing in large scale detail the specific mounting means for the headlight unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Turning to FIG. 1 it will be noted that we have shown our novel movable headlight unit 16 in operative relationship to the nozzle unit 12 of a vacuum cleaner. Illumination from the unit is directed through a transparent or translucent lens 53 so as to provide ample light for the proper operation of the vacuum cleaner. The shell portion 35 of the headlight unit, seen in cross-section inFIGS. 2-4, is attractively configured, and designed to generally conform to the upper surface of the machine and nozzle.

Turning to FIG. 2 it will be noted that the lens 53 is secured to the underside of the curve shell portion 35 by the use of a plurality of small screws 54 so that if ever necessary, the lens can be easily replaced. This view and FIG. 7 reveal that a shaft 34 is supported on the underside of the curved portion 35, being held in position by a plurality of screws 80, which screws fit through small plates 81 upon which the ends of shaft 34 rest. Shaft 34 is rotatably secured in the upper portion of the U-shaped flexible spring 31, which spring in turn is secured such as by screws 32 to shoulder or ledge 33 located on the front of the housing, which shoulder or ledge serves as a spring mounting means; note FIG. 5.

FIGS. 3 and 4 reveal that the headlight unit 16 can be tilted at the juncture of the spring and shaft so as to assume a plurality of stable raised positions. It will be noted particularly from FIG. 3 that the spring 31 can move somewhat forwardly away from the notches 37 so as to allow the fairly sharp edge 36 forming the upper rear comer of the headlight unit to enter a selected one of the notches 37. In such instance, the tilted unit of course remains basically supported by the spring 31, but the notches form a fixed location in which the upper edge of the headlight unit can be firmly disposed, thus forming a stable support for the headlight unit in whichever of the plurality of positions the unit may be disposed. Of course, if the headlight unit is raised to its highest position, the spring 31 can move further rearwardly than if the unit is fitted into one of the notches, this latter detail being apparent from FIG. 4. In such instance the spring in connection with the notch area still serves as a stable means for anchoring the headlight unit in a raised position.

Turning to FIG. 6 it will be noted that when the headlight unit has been raised, interference with the procedure associated with the removal of the nozzle unit 12 from the machine is minimized. This is to say, before the user of the machine steps on lever 20 to effect a removal of the nozzle in accordance with our aforementioned pending application, he or she typically raises the headlight unit to the position shown in FIG. 6. In this FIG. certain details associated with the mounting of the bulb 25 will be noted to be revealed. The base 50 of the bulb preferably fits into a bulb bracket 52, which bracket in turn is secured by one or more screws 83 to the underside of the shell portion 35. As will be apparent, the bulb 25 supplies illumination in all positions of the headlight unit, although of course it provides more illumination when raised to the higher positions. However, the average user of our machine would not typically work with the light always in the raised position, particularly if he or she were utilizing the machine for sweeping under low furniture or the like.

As should now be apparent, we have provided a simple yet most novel and effective headlight mounting means usable in connection with a vacuum cleaner, scrubbing device or the like. Our headlight arrangement can be easily moved by the user to any of a number of raised positions, in each of which positions the headlight unit is stably maintained by virtue of the cooperation of the mounting spring and selected notches into which the spring can bias the headlight unit. Significantly our construction obviates the expensive pivot link and clevis arm type constructions used in prior art devices, and further our arrangement minimizes interference with the natural upper contour of the machine with which it is used.

What is claimed is:

1. A movable light for a hand operated device comprising a housing, a headlight unit in said housing, said unit being arranged to direct illumination forwardly of said device and having an upper surface generally conforming to the contour of the upper surface of said housing when said unit is in a lowered position, and means for supporting said unit in any one of at least two different raised positions, said means including a plurality of notches selectively y engageable by said headlight unit, by virtue of which notches said unit will be stably maintained in the selected raised position.

2. A movable light for a hand operated device comprising a housing, a headlight unit in said housing, said unit being arranged to direct illumination forwardly of said device and having an upper surface generally conforming to the contour of the upper surface of said housing when said unit is in a lowered position, said unit being tiltable into any of a number of raised positions in which it will be stably maintained, said unit being supported by spring means, and being retained in a designated raised position by virtue of contact with one of a plurality of notches disposed above said spring means, whereby said unit may be moved to a position giving the desired amount of illumination and retained stably therein by virtue of said spring and notch combination.

3. An illumination means for a hand-operated device having a housing, said illumination means comprising a headlight unit arranged to direct illumination forwardly, said unit having an upper surface which generally conforms to the upper surface of said housing when said unit is in a lowered position, spring means disposed between said unit and said housing and forming the principal support for said unit, a plurality of notches on said housing adjacent said spring, into a selected one of which a pointed rear edge of said headlight unit may be inserted after said unit has been tilted, with said spring and notch arrangement functioning together to hold said unit stably in any one of a number of raised positions.

4. A movable light arrangement for a cleaning device having a housing, said light arrangement comprising a headlight unit tiltable into any of a plurality of stable positions, said unit being arranged to direct illumination forwardly of the device and having an upper surface which is generally faired with the upper surface of said housing when said unit is in a lowered position, spring support means disposed on said housing adjacent a rear portion of said unit, a leaf spring secured to said spring support means and forming a principal support for said unit, a plurality of notches disposed on said housing above said spring support means, one of said notches at a time being arranged to receive a rear portion of said unit when said unit has been tilted against the influence of said spring to a raised position, said spring and notch combination thus holding said unit stably in the selected raised position.

5. A movable light combination for a device having a housing, said housing having spring support means thereon, a headlight unit arranged to direct illumination forwardly and being tiltable to a plurality of different raised positions, a leaf spring disposed between said spring support means housing and a rear portion of said headlight unit, with the various tilted positions of said headlight unit affecting the amount of bias of said spring, said headlight unit having an upper surface generally conforming to the contours of said housing, the rear portion of such upper surface of said unit and the rear portion of said unit meeting to define a somewhat pointed edge, a plurality of notches defined above said spring mounting means and being arranged to receive said edge, with the spring and the notch arrangement together functioning to hold the headlight unit stably in any one of a number of tilted positions. 

1. A movable light for a hand operated device comprising a housing, a headlight unit in said housing, said unit being arranged to direct illumination forwardly of said device and having an upper surface generally conforming to the contour of the upper surface of said housing when said unit is in a lowered position, and means for supporting said unit in any one of at least two different raised positions, said means including a plurality of notches selectively y engageable by said headlight unit, by virtue of which notches said unit will be stably maintained in the selected raised position.
 2. A movable light for a hand operated device comprising a housing, a headlight unit in said housing, said unit being arranged to direct illumination forwardly of said device and having an upper surface generally conforming to the contour of the upper surface of said housing when said unit is in a lowered position, said unit being tiltable into any of a number of raised positions in which it will be stably maintained, said unit being supported by spring means, and being retained in a designated raised position by virtue of contact with one of a plurality of notches disposed above said spring means, whereby said unit may be moved to a position giving the desired amount of illumination and retained stably therein by virtue of said spring and notch combination.
 3. An illumination means for a hand-operated device having a housing, said illumination means comprising a headlight unit arranged to direct illumination forwardly, said unit having an upper surface which generally conforms to the upper surface of said housing when said unit is in a lowered position, spring means disposed between said unit and said housing and forming the principal support for said unit, a plurality of notches on said housing adjacent said spring, into a selected one of which a pointed rear edge of said headlight unit may be inserted after said unit has been tilted, with said spring and notch arrangement functioning together to hold said unit stably in any one of a number of raised positions.
 4. A movable light arrangement for a cleaning device having a housing, said light arrangement comprising a headlight unit tiltable into any of a plurality of stable positions, said unit being arranged to direct illumination forwardly of the device and having an upper surface which is generally faired with the upper surface of said housing when said unit is in a lowered position, spring support means disposed on said housing adjacent a rear portion of said unit, a leaf spring secured to said spring support means and forming a principal support for said unit, a plurality of notches disposed on said housing above said spring support means, one of said notches at a time being arranged to receive a rear portion of said unit when said unit has been tilted against the influence of said spring to a raised Position, said spring and notch combination thus holding said unit stably in the selected raised position.
 5. A movable light combination for a device having a housing, said housing having spring support means thereon, a headlight unit arranged to direct illumination forwardly and being tiltable to a plurality of different raised positions, a leaf spring disposed between said spring support means housing and a rear portion of said headlight unit, with the various tilted positions of said headlight unit affecting the amount of bias of said spring, said headlight unit having an upper surface generally conforming to the contours of said housing, the rear portion of such upper surface of said unit and the rear portion of said unit meeting to define a somewhat pointed edge, a plurality of notches defined above said spring mounting means and being arranged to receive said edge, with the spring and the notch arrangement together functioning to hold the headlight unit stably in any one of a number of tilted positions. 